Bath tub and invalid lifting and transferring device



NOV. 29, 1955 SAELEN 2,725,093

BATH TUB AND INVALID LIFTING AND TRANSFERRING DEVICE Filed July 29, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. few/m 5/2150.

AG'ENTS.

BY &/ m y Nov. 29, 1955 E. SAELEN 2,725,093

BATH TUB AND INVALID LIFTING AND TRANSFERRING DEVICE Filed July 29, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 &

IN V TOR.

AGENTS figuration.

BATH TUB AND INVALID LIFTIN G AND TRANSFERRING DEVICE Erling Saelen, Bergen, Norway Application July 29, 1953, Serial No. 371,134

4 Claims. (Cl. 155-365) In treating certain types of invalids, for example those having infantile paralysis (polio), a part of the treatment is regular bathing and muscular gymnastic in hot baths. Because of the more or less inability of the patient to use the limbs certain problems and difficulties arise in removing the patient from the bed, lowering the patient carefully into the bath, keeping him there and thereafter removing him from the bath and transferring him to the bed again. Further the bath tubs now used for the purpose mentioned have inadequate and inefiicient forms.

A number of invalid lifting and transferring devices have been proposed for the purpose set forth in the foregoing, but such devices are rather complicated and difiicult to manoeuvre and therefore two attendants must usually be present to handle a patient properly when bathing and having muscular treatment.

The present invention, therefore, aims to provide a new and improved invalid lifting and transferring device for use in the easy handling and moving of patients in hospitals and the like, in lifting the patient from the bed, supporting him comfortably on a stretcher, transferring him to a suitable position over a bath tub or the like and lowering him into the bath. After the bathing the procedure is reversed and the patient carefully transferred back to the bed or wheeled stretcher carriage. The device according to the present invention is so easily manoeuvreable that a single attendant can safely handle the patient.

The characteristic features of the invention will be revealed in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof which is shown upon the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows the bath tub of the improved construction seen from above, the lifting and transferring device being shown in full drawn lines in its operative position in the bath tub and in dotted lines in the inoperative position swung outwardly from the bath tub.

Figure 2 shows schematically a vertical, axial section through the lifting and transferring device with the full lines representing the device in its lower starting position swung outwardly from the bath tub and with the dotted lines showing the device raised vertically ready to be swung in position over the bath tub.

Figure 3 shows the same section as in Figure 2, but with the device being swung 180 from the dotted position in Figure 2, to the elevated position over the bath tub ready to be lowered into same, where the device is shown in dotted lines, while in full lines is shown the operative position of the device lowered into the bath tub.

Figure 4 shows a section along the line IVIV in Figure 2.

In the drawings the reference numeral 1 designates the bath tub, which may have any convenient form suitable for the purpose or it may have the improved form shown in Figure 1. This improved bath tub has intermediate its ends contracted or narrowed parts 2a, so that the bath tub more or less has a key-hole or figure eight-like con- Such form is very suitable for the purpose States Patent F ICC set forth in the opening paragraphs of this specification partly because the lifting and transferring device, which is generally designated by the reference numeral 3 and which shall be described more fully in the following, may be placed in such position relative to the bath tub that a stretcher 4 may be transferred to a convenient elevated position over the bath tub without requiring support arms of excessive lengths for carrying the stretcher and partly so that the attendant may come close to the patient without having to stretch too far. The narrowed parts 2a of the bath tub should of course be positioned where the waist of the patient will be when bathing. At the head end and/or the foot end of the tub there may further be a recess as indicated at 2b, so that the attendant also at one or both of these places may be in a position to reach far into the tub without having to stretch unnecessarily, which would of course be very tiring.

The form for the bath tub shown and described is very satisfactory for the purpose. The attendant may stand in one of the narrowed parts 2a and thus be in a position to wash the patient without having to stretch too much. Further the attendant may stand in one of the recesses 2b to let the patient make leg or arm gymnastics along the length of the tub or transversely to same.

In the example shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings and described in the following the lifting and transferring device 3 is placed stationary in or near one of the narrowed parts 2a close to the wall of the tub, being cast integral therewith. The device 3, is in fact a hydraulically or mechanically operated jack and consists in the present embodiment of a vertical hollow post or cylinder 5, which is cast stationary upon the floor 6. In such cylinder there is slidable a piston 7, to which is connected a piston rod 8 which projects through an aperture 9 in the top cover 10 of the cylinder. Upon diametrically opposite places said aperture is widened to slots at 11 and 12 (Fig. 4). In the peripheral direction both slots have the same width, while in the radial direction the slot 12 is deeper than the slot 11. Actually along the piston rod 8 there is attached a guide, the lower part 13 of which is adapted to co-operate with and to be received in the slot 11, while the upper part 14 of said guide is adapted to cooperate with and to be received in the slot 12. Said guides extend successively from the top of the piston rod approximately to the piston 7, with a clear space 15 provided between the lower end of the guide 13 and the piston 7. Therefore it will be possible to turn the piston rod 8 in its aperture 9 in the cover 10 of the cylinder, only when neither of the guides 13 and 14 is received in the slots 11 and 12, respectively, that is to say only when the piston is in its top position in the cylinder and the lower end of the guide 13 is clear over the cover 10. Against the top end of the piston there is a buffer spring 16 and washer 17 to dampen the impact of the piston against the cover 10 when reaching its top position on its upward travel. To the top end of the piston rod there is attached a skirt or casing 18, which telescopically surrounds the cylinder 5.

To the top end of the piston rod there is further attached a horizontal arm 19 to the extreme end of which is secured a vertical sleeve 20, wherein is received a rod 21. To the lower end of rod 21 is attached a horizontal semi-circular stretcher carrier or support plate 22 and to the upper end of rod 21 is attached an arm 23, which projects in the general direction of the support 22. In the present embodiment the support 22 is narrower than the stretcher 4, which in most cases have standard width. Therefore, when a stretcher is carried on the plate 22 the outer edge of the stretcher, that is to say the edge opposite its edge adjacent the rod 21, must be supported by a sling 24, the upper end of which is connected to the arm 23. Of course the support 22 may have sufiicient width to safely carry a standard stretcher, but it is an advantage that the support 22 should not be too wide, in which case it would need too much room to be swung around. The rod 21 may be rotatable in its sleeve 20 and by means of a suitable lock 25, for example a ball-lock, the rod 21, the arm 23 and the support 22, may be locked in any one of the two extreme positions shown with full lines and dot-and-dash lines upon Figure 2 of the drawings .or in any one of a number of intermediate positions.

To the lower end of the cylinder 5, is connected a pipe 26 for a hydraulic fluid, in which pipe there is a three-Way valve 27, to which is connected a pipe 28 from a suitable fluid pressure source (not shown) and a drain pipe 29. If the city water system where the device is to be used has water of suflicient pressure, the pipe 28 may be connected direct to the city water-line system, while the pipe 29 drains into the main sewer.

The device described in the foregoing and shown upon the drawings works in the following manner:

In Figure 2 the full lines represent the starting position. In the starting position, the guide 13 is received in the slot 11 and the lower end of the guide 14 rests against the upper face of the cylinder cover 10. Now the parts 19-25, both inclusive, are in a position ready to receive a stretcher. The height of the support 22 above the floor 6 corresponds to the height of the wheeled stretcher carriages commonly used in all hospitals, so that such carriage with a patient on a stretcher thereon may be wheeled close to the jack-device 3, whereafter the patient on the stretcher is transferred to the support 22 and the sling 24 connected as shown. To simplify the transferring of the patient, the support 22 may be swung to the position shown with dot-and-dash lines in Figure 2, the carriage is wheeled close to the rod 21, whereafter the support 22 is swung to its full line position directly below the stretcher upon the carriage. Thereupon the sling is connected, so that the patient on the stretcher is thus transferred to the support 22 with the least disturbance. The valve 27 is thereafter adjusted so that the pressure fluid has free access to the cylinder 5, whereby the piston 7 and thus the patient is lifted until the piston reaches its top position in the cylinder, whereafter the valve 27 is closed. Of course there is also a safety relief valve (not shown) which blows and relieves the pressure in case the operator should forget to close the valve 27 when the piston has reached its top position. There may also be an automatic cut-off valve (not shown) which is connected to the movement of the piston and automatically cuts off the fluid pressure as soon as the piston has reached its top position. In this position the lower end of the guide 13 is clear atop the cylinder cover 11, as shown with the dotted lines upon Figure 2. Now the piston rod 8 maybe rotated 180 and the stretcher swung correspondingly to be placed in a correct position above the bath tub as shown with dotted lines upon Figure 3. In this position it will be understood that the lower edge of the guide 13 and 14 will be in a position vertically above the slot 12. By readjustment of the valve 27 the cylinder 5 will be brought to communicate with the drain pipe 29. The weight of the patient and the stretcher 4 as well as the parts 725, both inclusive, will discharge the fluid from the cylinder 5 to the drain 29. The lowering speed maybe adjusted suitably by adjusting the valve 27 to choke the fluid discharge. As the slot 12 is adapted to receive the guide 14 the piston 7 will sink to its lowest position in the cylinder and lower the stretcher 4 with the patient correspondingly into the tub 1, as shown with full lines upon Figure 3.

The patient may now be washed when layingupon the stretcher. Of course the patient may be lowered only to .a certain wanted height by closing the valve 27 and cutting-01f the discharge of the fluid from the cylinder 5. If it is wanted the support 22 may be swung 180 from'the full line position upon Figure 3 to the dot-anddash line position upon the same figure, and thereafter d the device is raised again and swung to one of the positions shown upon Figure 2, so that it shall not interfere with the work of the attendant upon the patient. The stretcher will now sink to the bottom of the tub while the patient floats in the tub.

it is an important safety feature of the improved invalid lifting and transferring device according to the invention that the device may be swung only when same is in its highest position and the stretcher will clear over the top of the tub. Further, as described, the patient can only be lowered when he is in correct position over or to the side of the bath tub. Otherwise there should always be danger that the stretcher and patient should be swung before the device had reached its highest position, or be lowered when not in correct position relative to the tub and the patient then hit the side wall of the tub while being swung or lowered respectively, which might cause injury to the patient.

In lieu of a hydraulically operated jack-system as shown in the drawings and described in the foregoing, there maybe a mechanically operated system. Further in lieu of a stationary jack-system as shown in the drawings and described in the foregoing, the cylinder 5, and its associate parts may be mounted upon a suitable wheeled carriage, so that the device is mobile and one device may be used to serve a battery of bath tubs.

What I claim is:

1. An improved invalid lifting and transferring device for use alongside a bath tub in transferring an invalid to and from the adjacent bath tub; said device comprising an invalid support, means carrying said support and permitting up and down movement of the latter as well as swinging of said support about a vertical axis, means for effecting up and down movement of said support, guide means cooperating with said support carrying means to constrain said support to follow substantially vertical paths during said up and down movement thereof, and means releasing said guide means when said support is at a predetermined elevated position to then permit swinging of said support about said vertical axis, said support carrying means including a vertical cylinder having a cover with a central aperture at the upper end thereof, a piston slidable in said cylinder, 2. piston rod extending upwardly from said piston through the central aperture of said cover, and means mounting said support on said piston rod; and wherein said guide means includes an elongated, radially projecting guide member extending axially along said piston rod and terminating, at its lower end, above said piston, said cover having two circumferentially spaced recesses opening radially into said central aperture to alternatively receive said guide member, thereby to prevent rotation of said piston rod and of said support until said piston rod has been raised sufliciently to dispose said lower end of the guide member above said cover.

2. An improved invalid lifting and transferring device according to claim 1; wherein said means for effecting up and down movement of the support includes means for introducing fluid under pressure to said cylinder below said piston and for discharging the fluid from said cylinder.

3. An improved invalid lifting and transferring device according to claim 1; wherein said guide member includes a lower portion of relatively small radial extent and an upper portion of relatively large radial extent, and said two recesses of the cover are of different radial depths to respectively accommodate said lower and upper portions of the guide member, whereby greater downward movement of said rod and support is permitted when said guide member is received in the recess of relatively large radial depth than when said guide member is received in the other of said recesses.

4. An improved invalid lifting and transferring device according to clairn'3; wherein said two recesses are spaced apart by approximately 180 about the axis of said piston rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent 6 Seashole Mar. 4, 1913 Taylor June 21, 1921 Ille Apr. 8, 1941 Carpenter Dec. 29, 1953 Scheuerman et a1 Dec. 29, 1953 

